A Second Life- Terrible Twos
by everdreaming3
Summary: Brittana. One-shot from A Second Life 'verse. Brittany and Santana deal with raising toddlers and managing the stresses in life.
"Come on D, work with me please?" I pleaded.

I held a crying Norah in my arms while my son stoutly refused to keep walking toward the door, instead digging his feet into the floor of the garage as I tried to tug him gently toward the house by his hand.

"No! I wanna go!" Declan shouted, his little lower lip jutting out and his brow furrowed in discontent. He looked so much like my wife that I almost smiled, but I was about at my wit's end.

"Declan, please baby. I know you wanted to go to Uncle Gabe's today, but he can't right now. He said you can see him tomorrow," I said, trying to keep my voice soothing so my daughter would hopefully stop her bawling that had started in the car on the way home from daycare when her brother started throwing a fit after I said that we wouldn't be going to visit his uncle as originally planned.

Declan was usually so easy going, but he would occasionally have a temper when he was tired and things didn't go his way. As their second birthday had just passed, both twins were now more difficult to handle and, when one started, usually the other one would get involved. When Declan let it fly, he was incredibly difficult to deal with and only his mami could calm him completely. Unfortunately, Santana wasn't home from work yet, so I had to figure something out.

"I want mami!" Declan cried.

"I know D, and she will be home soon," I told him. "If you get in the house then we can wait for her there while you play, okay?"

I was seriously debating trying to pick him up and carry him and Norah in, but I knew that I was just too weak to be able to carry both of them. It had been a long day at work for me, and not only were my feet hurting from my arthritis, but I was stressed and tired and I knew I would be pushing myself too far if I tried to pick up both of them. I didn't want to risk hurting either of my children as well as myself, but I couldn't just leave him out here while I got his sister inside.

"Di'saur?" Declan asked, his pout starting to disappear.

I sighed in relief as I realized this crisis was going to start to go my way. "Yeah, baby. You can play with your dinosaur until mami gets home."

He nodded and then willingly walked toward the door, letting go of my hand so I could turn the knob and let him walk in. Norah was still crying, her face buried in my neck, and now that my son was inside and willing to calm down, I was able to rub her back soothingly.

"It's okay sweetie, mama's here," I cooed into her brown hair as I walked behind Declan. I closed the door behind me and sat Norah down on the little bench in our mudroom so I could remove her boots and winter jacket. She started crying harder and reached for me. "I know Norah, just let mama get this off of you first. D, sit on the bench so I can get your boots and stuff off."

Thankfully he listened, and he giggled when Lance and Lady came bounding into the small room. They maneuvered around us and stood by the washer and dryer, their tails wagging happily now that their best buddies were home. Declan and the dogs waited patiently until I finished getting Norah's jacket and snow boots off. I quickly removed his gear and hung up their jackets before removing my own and hanging it up on the hooks we had on the wall. I leaned back down and picked up my crying daughter, making sure to grab my phone and pills out of my purse before I followed a now enthusiastic Declan and the dogs into the kitchen.

"Norah, please stop crying honey," I pleaded. "It's okay. Do you wanna play with your pony?"

I felt her shake her head no against my neck, but now that her brother was calm I could feel her starting to relax in my arms. I could just tell that she was going to be clingy. I hoped she would be okay being put down at some point though, because I still needed to take my pill and start dinner and I really wanted to get off of my feet sometime soon.

I sighed. I set my pill container on the counter and opened it with one hand while Norah still clung to me. I took a pill out and popped it into my mouth before grabbing a glass from the cupboard and filling it with some water from the fridge so I could wash it down. I saw that I had a blinking light on my phone and picked it up to see that Santana had texted me when I was fighting with Declan in the garage. I was relieved to see that my wife was already on her way home from work and should be here shortly.

"Declan, wait for mama," I told him as I saw him trying to run into the living room, where Lance and Lady were waiting. He stopped and I walked over to him after I set my phone back down. "We can get your dinosaur but we need to bring it into the kitchen so mama can start dinner, okay?"

I ran my fingers through his dark curls. His hair was so much like Santana's and I couldn't resist running my fingers through it, much like I loved to do to my wife's. He nodded against my hand, and I held his hand so I could help him down the step into the living room.

We had moved into the new house about six months earlier over the summer. The twins were getting bigger and were going to need separate rooms, so Santana and I started looking for a bigger place. We both fell in love with this house, which was a little bit closer to both of our work places but still in the suburbs of the city. It had four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a finished basement, and a fenced in yard for the dogs.

Declan ran toward the corner of the living room where their toy chest was and dug around until he found the T. Rex he was looking for. He was obsessed with dinosaurs currently, and his room was decorated with the creatures. Norah perked up and looked at her brother over by their toys. Her tears were slowing and I hoped that she would be interested in her toys so I could put her down soon. My arms were getting tired.

I hiked her up higher onto my hip and went to the back door that led out to the fenced yard. I opened it so the dogs could go out and do their business. I shut it behind them, not wanting to let the cold November air into the house. It was nearing the end of the month, and we had gotten a little bit of snow throughout the day. I was hoping that it would go away for Thanksgiving in a few days so my parents could make the trip from Lima.

I saw the dogs back at the door through the window and opened it back up to let them in. I didn't even care about the little wet paw prints they were leaving on the carpet. I would deal with it later.

I sat down on the couch for a moment, setting Norah on my lap so she was straddling my legs and leaning into my chest. My arms sighed in relief at the removal of her weight, and my feet sighed in relief at the removal of my weight. She burrowed into me, but I saw that her eyes were fixed on her brother who was laughing as Lance licked his face and he made his dinosaur jump around on Lady's back while she laid next to him.

"Did you wanna grab a toy to play with in the kitchen while mama cooks?" I asked my daughter.

She nodded into my chest, and I let myself smile finally with the knowledge that her crying fit was likely finished. I pressed a kiss into her hair and hugged her briefly.

"Okay, what toy did you want?"

"Pony," she mumbled quietly. Exactly the toy I knew she was going to pick.

"Did you want to go and grab it?"

She shook her head, and I sighed. I took a bracing breath and stood up with her again, wincing as the pain in my feet peaked. I walked over to the toy chest and dug around until I found the little stuffed pony that my daughter loved. I handed it to her and she hugged it tightly under her chin.

"Come on Declan, we need to go get dinner started."

He bounced up, grasping his T. Rex in both hands, and walked toward the kitchen with me. I set Norah down on the kitchen floor and lifted Declan up the step before I grabbed the baby gate leaning against the wall. I stepped up into the kitchen and turned to set up the gate so the twins wouldn't try to go back in the living room. I then walked over and shut the door to the mudroom so they wouldn't go in there before I headed to the refrigerator to pull out the items I needed to start dinner.

I kept an eye on the kids as they played on the floor, ready to put them into their high chairs if they put themselves into trouble. Now that Declan was calm and happy, Norah had calmed and was starting to smile. Her blue eyes were still a stormy grey, but the tears had dried and she was giggling a little as she bounced her pony around with her brother's dinosaur.

I was making something pretty simple for dinner- just some chicken breasts, some flavored rice, and steamed green beans. I would be able to split my time pretty easily between paying attention to dinner and the twins. I was flipping the chicken breasts in the skillet when I heard the garage door open. The dogs started to bark excitedly at the sound, and Declan and Norah looked up at the clamor.

"Mami's home," I sing-songed to them with a grin.

"Mami, mami, mami!" Declan chanted with glee, getting up from the floor just as Santana walked in through the door from the mudroom.

"Where's my babies?" Santana asked cheerfully, heading immediately to our son who was already running toward her. She picked him up and kissed his cheeks enthusiastically, running a hand through his hair to push his curls back. "Hi, D."

"Hi, mami," he grinned at her.

Norah had gotten up when Santana walked in and had walked over to hold onto her leg. Santana crouched down to press kisses to our daughter's face, who giggled happily in response.

"Hi, my sweet girl," Santana cooed, seeing immediately that Norah had been crying due to her reddened, grey eyes and knowing that she needed a little extra sweetness tonight.

"Hi, mami," Norah replied quietly. Santana pulled her into a hug, still holding onto Declan who didn't want to let her go now that his mami was home. She placed a final kiss to Norah's head before she let go and stood back up.

I turned back to the stove to check on the chicken and the rice and I felt Santana approaching me.

"Hi, sweetie," she greeted, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I turned to her, returning her loving smile and leaning in for a lingering peck. "Hi, baby," I said after I pulled back.

"You okay?" Santana asked.

I knew I wasn't masking the pain in my eyes. It had gotten worse and I was just trying to keep it together for the kids. I shook my head to Santana.

"No," I said honestly. "I'm tired and stressed about Thanksgiving this week, and my arms are weak from carrying Norah so much this evening. And my feet are really killing me."

Santana frowned at me, the concern in her eyes growing. "Declan, go play with your sister," she said, putting him back down on the floor. He whimpered and clung to her leg. "D, please do what I said. I need to help mama, okay?"

He wasn't happy about it, but Santana had been firm and he knew better than to try to put up a fight. He turned and went back to Norah, who had returned to her pony, and he picked up his dinosaur and they picked up where they had left off.

"Britt, go sit down and let me finish cooking," Santana commanded gently.

I almost argued, but I honestly was in too much pain and too tired to put up any sort of resistance. I just nodded, fighting off tears of frustration and went to the table and sat down.

"I'm sorry, San," I said, defeated.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Santana said matter-of-factly. "It happens that you have bad days, and I am here to help you through those bad days. I love you, and I'm your wife. I want to help."

I winced at my throbbing feet. Sitting down helped, but they were still so painful. I really wanted to go lay down, but I couldn't. "I know, baby. And I appreciate it."

"What happened, Britt? What was up with the twins today?" Santana asked. She could tell something had happened since Declan had been more clingy to her than normal and Norah had been obviously upset.

I sighed. "I told D when I picked them up from daycare that we couldn't go to Gabe's since he had a date tonight. He clearly didn't have a great nap, because he immediately threw a tantrum and Norah started to cry since he was upset. So the drive home was fun," I said dryly, and Santana chuckled a little. "And when we got home, Norah wouldn't let go of me and Declan didn't want to come in the house, so we had a stand-off in the garage. I couldn't carry both of them and finally D gave in, but Norah was already so worked up that she took forever to calm down. I had to keep carrying her and it wasn't until Declan calmed down that she really started to."

Santana looked at me sympathetically. She knew just as much as I did how hard it was to take care of both of our children when they were in moods by yourself.

"What about your feet, babe?"

"They started hurting at work today," I told her. "This project has got me stressed more than usual, and to add in the stress of my parents coming for Thanksgiving here and thinking about all of the cooking and cleaning we have to do just got me too worked up today, and adding on the pain of my feet got me even worse. It just hasn't been a good day."

Santana nodded in understanding as she turned back to the stove. She turned off the burners, satisfied that everything was finished, and pushed everything back far enough so the twins couldn't grab a handle and pull anything down. She came over to the table and pulled up a chair next to me before grabbing my hands in her own.

"Don't worry about Thanksgiving, okay? You know I will help with all of the cooking and cleaning, and it is your parents. They've been here when the twins were sick and we hadn't cleaned for a week and the place and both of us were a mess. You know they won't care if everything isn't perfect," she said. I opened my mouth to protest, but she gave me a look and I closed my mouth. "But how about after dinner, I will take care of the twins while you lay down for a bit, and once I put them to bed we can take a nice hot bath together and relax and hopefully that will help your feet and get you nice and rested. That sound good?"

It sounded perfect, but I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for putting all of the work on her tonight. "I don't want to make you take care of everything tonight," I protested.

"Brittany, I want to," Santana said sincerely. She lifted my hand to her mouth and pressed a kiss to my fingers. "I want to take care of you and I want to take care of our babies. Let me do it tonight, please?"

I gave her a soft smile and nodded. "Okay."

Santana grinned at me and cupped my face to pull me in for a kiss. Her lips caressed mine gently, sending my heart racing as it usually did.

"I love you," I mumbled against her lips.

"I love you, too," she replied when she pulled back.

Santana got the kids set up in their high chairs without much fuss from them, which we were both relieved about. She made up some plates for them, giving them some cut up chicken and green beans, before making hers and mine. Once everyone had their food and a drink, she settled herself down at the table and our nightly routine of making sure the kids ate while we tried to feed ourselves commenced.

Once the kids were sufficiently messy and they had at least eaten most of their food and Santana and I were done, I ignored my wife's protests and helped her clean them up and clear the table. She put her foot down though and refused to let me help with the dishes.

"Babe, go lay down please," she begged. "I don't want you to get any worse tonight. I am going to set the kids up in their pack and play while I do the dishes really quick, and then I got them until bath time and bedtime. Go rest."

I pulled Santana to me and kissed her thoroughly, cupping her cheek as my lips molded with hers. "I just needed a little energy to go to the bedroom," I said, smirking at her when I pulled back.

She rolled her eyes as she grinned, slapping my arm playfully. "You better be resting in there and not doing anything strenuous," she teased.

"I promise," I grinned, and got some sloppy bedtime kisses from our son and daughter before I hobbled my way to our bedroom.

I was honestly relieved to be getting a chance to relax. Santana had been working late the past couple of weeks since there were some issues going on at her work. That meant that all of the daycare pick-ups and drop-offs, which we usually rotated, were left to me. So was starting dinner. Santana would always help when she got home, but we usually still split the duties. It was really nice to get a break.

I changed into some comfy sweats and popped in a movie. I climbed into bed and got comfortable under the covers. Before I knew it, Santana was pushing hair off of my face and kissing my cheek to wake me.

"Did I fall asleep?" I asked groggily. That should have answered my question right there.

"Yeah. You must have been really tired Britt," she said quietly, looking down at me with soft brown eyes. "I'm sorry you've gotten so overworked these past couple of weeks. I promise I will try to do more to help you out and I will keep a better eye on you so you don't put too much on yourself."

I shook my head at her, pushing myself up with some effort to sit. "It's okay, San," I told her. "I didn't even realize how tired I was, and it isn't your responsibility to watch after me all of the time. I know you have to work and I want to help you as much as you want to help me."

"I know, but you shouldn't do it at the expense of your health. If you are hurting or weak, you need to tell me and you know I will drop everything to be here for you."

Santana tucked some hair behind my ear and I smiled lovingly at her. "Just as I would do the same for you. And you know I tell you when I am hurting or weak."

She smiled back at me. "Yeah, it only took a couple years," she said teasingly. "Do you feel up to a bath still?"

"If it is with you, then always," I stated, my smile widening.

Santana went to go run the water. She came back and helped me out of the bed and we made our way into the bathroom. She had added some bubbles to the bath and even lit the few candles we had around the tub. Once the tub was full, she turned off the water and we undressed before she dimmed the lights and she helped me into the bathtub.

"Were Declan and Norah good for you tonight?" I asked after she had settled in behind me and wrapped her arms around me.

"D was a little fussy, but Norah seemed pretty relaxed after you went to lay down," she murmured into my ear. "I think she was just as tired as you. They were pretty good while I did the dishes, but D didn't want to take a bath. I'm surprised you didn't hear the fuss he put up."

I shook my head as Santana chuckled behind me. "I don't know what his deal was today, but he is usually not this cranky," I said.

"I think he's upset that I've been working late the past couple of weeks," she said, a little sadly.

I hummed in my throat, recognizing that she may be right. "I understand how he feels," I teased, "but I don't want him to get that cranky because you are working some extra hours. He can't be that attached to you that he can't deal with you being gone a little bit longer than usual."

"I know," Santana sighed. "We can figure something out."

"It's times like these that makes me happy that we decided that two were enough for us," I said, giving a little laugh.

Santana laughed, squeezing me a little tighter before pressing a kiss to my cheek. "Yeah, I think two is more than enough for us."

We had discussed if either of us wanted more kids shortly after the twins turned one. Obviously I wasn't going to carry since it was something we had already decided was too risky in the first place. And after Santana had almost died, I was unwilling to let her carry again. She understood exactly where I was coming from and agreed. We discussed adoption, but we both said that we honestly had as many kids as we wanted with our twins. Two was a perfect number for us.

"How was bedtime?" I asked, breaking myself from my thoughts.

"Good," she answered, yawning a little. "Norah was out before I finished the book, and Declan made me sing but he fell asleep before I even finished a verse."

I smiled at the thought of my wife singing our son to sleep. He loved her voice as much as I did. Norah loved it too, and often demanded that her mami sing in the car. We usually read a book at bedtime, but sometimes Santana had to sing to them if they didn't fall asleep while we read. We would pick one of their rooms and settle one down in bed while we read and rocked with the other. Usually they would both fall asleep and then we would take the other to their room and put them in bed without a hitch, but sometimes one wouldn't want to go along with the plan fully.

I leaned back further into Santana, tilting my head back onto her shoulder. Her arms snaked further around my waist, and I put my arms over hers to hold her to me. I turned my head to press a kiss under her jaw, and she hummed happily. I closed my eyes and relaxed into my wife, perfectly content.

I didn't know how much time had passed before Santana spoke. "How are your feet feeling Britt?"

I shifted myself, realizing that I had been dozing a little, and took notice of how my feet were doing. "They are feeling better. I could probably take some Aleve or something tonight and they should be good."

"Mmkay," she mumbled. "I'm getting sleepy."

"Me too," I agreed. "You wanna get out and go to bed?"

I turned to see her nod, and I moved so she could stand up behind me. I knew she wasn't going to let me stand up by myself with how I had been feeling tonight, so I waited until she was up and ready to help me out of the tub. I was still a little weak, but I was mostly tired. I knew I would be much better in the morning.

The tub was draining as we prepared ourselves for bed. I admired Santana's naked body as we dried off and brushed our teeth and washed our faces. I felt her eyes on me as well, and I smiled at her in acknowledgement of our mutual appreciation. We got in our pajamas and Santana went to let the dogs out while I took my pill and got in bed. I heard her go into the twins' rooms through the baby monitors to check on them, and I waited for her to come back to me.

"Did you take your pill already?" Santana asked when she came back in.

"Yeah," I said as she climbed into bed.

I held my arm up for her and she scooted into my body. We made ourselves comfortable, our arms around each other's waists. We kissed lovingly, letting ourselves deepen it as our tongues caressed. I could feel myself getting more sleepy, so we ended it on a final peck. Santana tucked her head under my chin and I breathed in the scent of her shampoo and let it wash over me.

"I love you," she said sleepily.

"Love you," I mumbled, feeling completely and utterly loved at that moment.

Even with the stressful day, I loved my wife and kids more than anything, and knew they loved me just as much. That thought allowed me to drift to sleep, looking forward to another day in the morning.


End file.
